Dear oh dear. Just as positive polling had lifted the spirits of the Scottish Nats, news of their membership exodus will bring them crashing down. As revealed by the august paper that is the Scotsman, the SNP has lost more than 5,500 members in six months alone. It’s hardly what you want to hear when you’ve an election to fight in a year, eh?
The Scottish journal revealed that, as of 31 December 2024, the party had just 58,940 members – down from some 64,525 in the summer months. Not that SNP figures are strangers to an exodus, however. In 2019, the party had a staggering membership base totalling 125,000. This decreased to 103,884 in 2021. Then, after the resignation of Dear Leader Nicola Sturgeon and during the rather unedifying leadership contest that followed, another third binned off the party – leaving 72,186 in March 2023. The latest figures will hardly reassure concerned parliamentarians that the party is back on the front foot.
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